


It's a Lover's Christmas

by mundane_blues



Series: The Loververse [4]
Category: LOONA (Korea Band), NCT (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/F, Haechan is basically the "main" character as he's in all five stories, Jaemin and Heejin really want those cups, Lippie would go to hell for tamales, M/M, Multi, Nahyuck are extremely competitive, Wenseul are gross and fluffy and domestic, all these tags will make sense when you read the stories, holiday shopping is a pain in the ass, it’s like assassins but with mistletoe and kissing instead of killing, none of these stories actually happen on Christmas Day but happen during the holiday season, reverse gay chicken, ships are tagged in order of appearance/chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:15:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21964177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mundane_blues/pseuds/mundane_blues
Summary: Here are five short stories about the millions of different ways people experience the holiday season. These take the form of:- shopping for a blanket sweatshirt, looking for Christmas decorations, and discussing holiday capitalism at multiple different Target locations,- hanging up the mistletoe not for the kisses, but to win the game,- being deadlocked in morning rush hour traffic because you’re crazed for one of the limited-edition seasonal holiday cups,- getting tamales that are sold by vendors during the holiday season, and- taking your girlfriend to see Christmas lightsAnd, at the end of the day, sometimes the December holiday season really can feel like the most wonderful time of the year.
Relationships: Jeon Heejin/Kim Hyunjin, Jung Jinsol | Jinsoul/Kim Jungeun | Kim Lip, Kang Seulgi/Son Seungwan | Wendy, Kim Yerim | Yeri/Son Chaeyoung, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Lee Jeno, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Na Jaemin, Na Jaemin/NCT Dream Ensemble
Series: The Loververse [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1556896
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	1. Winter Wonderland

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Yes, all these take place in the Loververse (some scenes are taken from [Lover](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21222224/chapters/50525738), actually). Hyunjin, Jinsoul and Wendy are not slated to appear in Lover, but you’ll meet Seulgi and Taeil in the next chapter! 
> 
> Every story is interconnected, similar to the structure of Love Actually. However, you can read all of them as standalone stories. There's a lot of overlap, but more or less they are written in chronological order. If you are here to read a specific relationship that’s been tagged, here’s a chapter guide:
> 
> 1\. Winter Wonderland (Mark/Haechan)  
> 2\. All I Want For Christmas Is You (Yeri/Chaeyoung, Jaemin/NCT Dream, Jeno/Haechan)  
> 3\. Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer (Heejin/Hyunjin, Jaemin/Haechan)  
> 4\. Feliz Navidad (Kim Lip/Jinsoul)  
> 5\. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Wendy/Seulgi)
> 
> These were all really fun to write. Any and all spelling/grammar/formatting errors are mine as I did not check in the chapters before posting them. Enjoy this overly fluffy, fluffy, and fictional fluff! Because that’s really all this is, just short comedic and heartfelt stories that I wanted to write in an attempt to convey the spirit of the holiday season.

**Winter Wonderland**

“Hey, wanna come with me and Renjun to Target?” Jeno asks Donghyuck. “We’re buying Jaemin’s Christmas gift for Secret Santa.”

Donghyuck, currently bored after playing Overwatch for the past hour, decides that there’s no better way to procrastinate on studying for finals than to go Christmas shopping and contribute to the late-stage capitalism that he absolutely hated about the holidays.

“Sure, why not? How long can this take,” he says breezily.

_An hour and a half later…_

“This is the _third_ Target we have been to and they don’t have this fucking comfy sweater thingy whatever?!” Renjun curses as he swears in Chinese, which neither Jeno nor Donghyuck can understand.

“Language!” Donghyuck chides him.

“Shut up, Hyuck–”

“Shhhh, what if Santa hears you? Then he’s gonna have to put you on the naughty list this year,” Donghyuck admonishes him.

“Why did you even come along anyways?! You hate Christmas!” Renjun says annoyedly.

“Hey! I do not _hate_ Christmas. I just hate late-stage capitalism, that’s all.”

“You’re literally double majoring in economics, hypocrite. Don’t give me this backtalk–”

“It is NOT backtalk,” Donghyuck crosses his arms.

“Guys, come on, let’s play nice,” Jeno sighs tiredly. “We’re all just annoyed that we’ve been driving around for an hour and a half and still can’t find–”

“That stupid machine said it’d be in section B23, and is it in section B23? NO!” Renjun shouts exasperatedly as he points to where the The Comfy Blanket Sweatshirt™ should be. Instead, there is just a bunch of camping supplies, such as foldable chairs, tarps for tents, solar-powered lanterns, and other assorted wilderness goods.

“I mean, you could get him a lamp?” Jeno suggests mildly. “I’m sure it’ll be just as comfortable as a Comfy–”

“Jeno, I love you, I really do, but dude, _please_ don’t talk right now,” Renjun cuts him off. “Jaemin specifically asked that we get him that particular sweatshirt. I am _not_ going to listen to him complain and bitch and moan to me again about how I got him the wrong brand, or the wrong size, or the wrong color, we are getting the _exact_ thing he asked for this year.”

“ _We_ ? I think you mean _you_ ,” Dongyuck scoffs. “I am getting him _nothing_ because I–”

“–don’t believe in consumerism because you’re a giant hypocrite who studies the very thing he proclaims to hate about Christmas so much, yeah, I get it. And Jeno wants to marry you and wear the veil at the wedding.”

“Hey!”

“Oh, and while we’re at it, Jaemin drinks piss Americano because he got assigned defective taste buds at birth, Mark thinks ketchup is the devil’s piss, twelve dollars for avocado toast is _not_ worth it, Pluto is _not_ a planet, and Ross and Rachel were on a break, but that’s besides the point because the whole reason he was wrong is because he fucking slept with someone the second they took a break and tried to hide it from her the next morning!” Renjun snaps heatedly and sardonically.

“Oh my god, we are _not_ starting that conversation again,” Jeno quickly shuts that down. “I’m so sick of hearing you guys and Jaemin argue about that, their entire relationship is so–”

“Okay, okay, enough, enough,” Donghyuck interrupts them exasperatedly. “Look, the sweater comfy whatever is not here, and clearly we are wasting our time trying to look for it here, so should we just check another Target?”

“Fine,” Renjun says. “You’re right. Let’s just go to another Target.”

“Thank you,” Donghyuck exhales with histrionic emphasis.

They start walking back towards the exit.

“Oh, and by the way, Ross and Rachel _are_ each other’s lobsters.”

“Renjun, if you want to argue with someone, please just argue with Jaemin,” Jeno says tiredly.

Donghyuck just groans frustratedly. He regrets agreeing to come along with the two of them to try and find this dumb comfy blanket whatever.

_Thirty minutes later…_

“Sorry, we don’t have it,” the Target employee says apologetically. “It said we had it in stock, but this is where they would be. I can look up another location where they would be, if you want!”

“No, it’s okay!” Renjun says in his polite customer voice. “Thank you so much!”

“Of course, have a good day!”

They walk away from the aisle and section where it had said the The Comfy Blanket Sweatshirt™ would be, their days ruin and their disappointed immeasurable.

“That’s it, I give up,” Renjun says exhaustedly, tired of driving around. “I have to pick up Kun for dinner with my parents in like an hour, and we’ve been to four Targets. We’re never finding this stupid fucking comfy sweater blanket.”

“I’m sorry, dude,” Jeno says sympathetically. “I know you’re probably super frustrated right now.”

“I’m just getting him a Starbucks gift card so he can buy as many iced Americanos as he wants,” Renjun sighs. “And a bag of Hot Cheetos, since he won’t have taste buds left after drinking all that espresso.”

“Hey, well, at least you tried,” Donghyuck says gently. “You went to four different Targets to find the comfy sweater. I wouldn’t even bother trying to go to one store to get it.”

“I’ll just order it online,” Renjun says dejectedly.

They continue walking past the aisles, passing by shoppers and carts and–

“Hey, wait, look,” Jeno says hushedly as he pulls Renjun aside. “Look in this cart.”

The three of them look into an unattended shopping cart, the shopper or Target worker it belongs to found nowhere around. In it, they see it. The Comfy Blanket Sweatshirt™ that had been eluding them, taunting them with its near nonexistence in the past two hours and four Targets.

“Oh my god,” Donghyuck whispers. “It’s not just a myth. It’s actually real.”

“Should we take it?” Jeno says nervously. “I mean, this is in someone’s cart–”

Renjun quickly grabs it and starts running to the cash registers. “Go, go, go!” he shouts and Jeno and Donghyuck chase after him, sprinting away from the crime scene before someone catches them.

_Five minutes later..._

“Where the hell is the The Comfy Blanket Sweatshirt that was in the cart?” Kun says frustratedly as he looks through the cart again.

“Maybe it just disappeared into thin air?” Yukhei suggests.

“How the hell would it just vanish like that?” Kun asks exasperatedly. “Frick, what if someone stole it or took it from our cart?”

“Can’t you just get another one?” Yukhei asks.

“That was the _last_ one on the shelf, Yukhei,” Kun groans dejectedly. “I was on the phone for forty five minutes calling five different Targets to make sure they had that stupid sweater in stock!”

“Ohhhh,” Yukhei says understandingly. “Damn, bro, that blows.”

Again, Kun sighs with frustration. “Why the hell does Ten even want this?! It’s not even a brand he likes!”

Yukhei just shrugs. “It’s Ten, bro. Who knows what goes on with him.”

_One week later..._

“Oh my god, look at this, it’s so cuteeee,” Mark says excitedly as he looks at a three-tiered Christmas sign that says “sleigh rides” on one panel, “hot cocoa” on another, and “ice skating” on the bottom one. “Hot cocoa! Ice skating! Sleigh rides. Awww, doesn’t this remind you of when you came to Vancouver with me for Christmas, and I made you hot chocolate and we went ice skating?”

“No, but it reminds me of how much of a loser you are,” Donghyuck replies bluntly.

“But it’s so festive! Everything about it is so Christmas-y!”

“Everything about it is so incredibly tacky.”

“No, it’s not tacky! It’s so homey,” Mark says. “I love it!”

“You’ve said that about every single decoration you’ve seen here today,” Donghyuck sighs impatiently.

Once again, Donghyuck finds himself the victim to the late-stage capitalism he has slowly come to embrace, after seeing how much Mark likes it and talking to him about it. 

That, and he literally has nothing else to do, him and Mark are both done with finals and he’s trying to spend as much time with him before he leaves for New York early next week. If anything, Donghyuck agreed to go to Target willingly (even after the traumatic comfy-blanket-whatever fiasco two weeks ago with Renjun and Jeno) because these might some of his last moments with Mark, because he’s not going to his graduation since him and Renjun hadn’t bought tickets, and who knows when he’s going to see him again after he moves?

However, even Donghyuck has his limits, and he’s starting to approach it, as they’ve spent the past hour at Target just perusing the Christmas decorations and he thinks he’s going to lose it if he hears Mark talk about “the magic of Christmas” one more time.

“Oh my god, look at this Christmas tree wagon! This is so adorable!”

“Oh my god, if you love Christmas so much, why don’t you marry–”

“Don’t ruin this for me,” Mark shushes him as he looks at the red wagon with the fake Christmas tree in it. It’s like watching a kid gawk at a toy, except Mark is a college student who Donghyuck thinks is way too cheerful about Christmas, and this toy is fourteen dollars.

“Mark, you’re not getting it.”

“But why not? They’re so pretty–”

“No.”

“But–”

“Did you _see_ the price tag?” Donghyuck scolds him sternly, in disbelief that _he_ has to be the one to rein Mark in and not the other way around. “Fourteen dollars? Sorry, that’s over half your budget.”

“Twenty dollars isn’t enough to get good decorations for Christmas though!” Mark argues.

“Mark, the budget exists so that our apartment doesn’t look like the ghost of Christmas came and threw up all over the place.”

“Ghost of Christmas?” Mark says confusedly. “Which one? Technically in the Christmas Carol story, there are three separate Christmas ghosts of the past, present, and future who–”

“Oh my god, you are only spending twenty dollars and that is the end of it,” Donghyuck says annoyedly. “Seriously, what kind of loser spends money on a bunch of decorations they only use for one month of the year?”

_Meanwhile…_

“Jisung, look, look!” Chenle shouts excitedly, voice a tad loud after he’d gotten one of the holiday drinks at Starbucks. “Look at this Frosty the Snowman statue! I have to get it. It would look so cute by my door!”

Jisung barely catches his breath as he finally catches up to Chenle, who is walking much too fast for him to keep up with the shopping cart full of Christmas decorations.

“Lele, when I agreed to go shopping for Christmas decorations with you, I thought, you know, we were just getting lights and ornaments, or something,” Jisung pants heavily, the cart still jingling from the sound of jingle bells. “Why do we have to get all this–”

“To decorate my apartment, of course!” Chenle squeals happily, putting some more Christmas lights in the shopping cart as he takes another sip of his caffeinated holiday beverage of choice.

“Chenle, you don’t–”

“Ooooh! Look, over there, they have gingerbread house kits!” Chenle says as he runs over to the grocery section.

Jisung groans tiredly, and then starts pushing the cart full of Christmas paraphernalia towards the produce part of Target.

_Five minutes later..._

“Oh my god, look at this little white house covered in snow!” Mark says excitedly. “Wouldn’t this look cute on my desk?”

“Mark, you’re literally moving to New York in a week.”

“But–”

“You’re getting lights and that’s all,” Donghyuck says. “I’m putting my foot down.”

“But I wanted to get decorations,” Mark complains.

“Mark.”

“ _Haechanieee_ –”

“Mark. You only get to buy Christmas lights and candy canes and that is the _end_ of it.”

“Why are you being so mean,” Mark pouts.

“Because it’s 8 in the morning and I’m stuck here with you here, shopping for Christmas decorations at a Target without having had any coffee or breakfast. I have every right to be mean towards a complete loser.”

“You’re just grumpy because I forced you to wear the ugly Christmas sweater and holiday pants,” Mark beams goofily.

Donghyuck smacks him on the head.

“OW! That hurt!”

“You did not _force_ me to do anything, I lost a bet with Renjun, don’t push it.”

“Why are you such a grinch?” Mark whines childishly.

Donghyuck sighs. Since when had the roles reversed and now he’s the adult and Mark’s the one who acts like a kid? That’s supposed to be his job.

_Forty minutes later…_

“...okay, maybe the lights do look nice,” Donghyuck admits.

“Right?! They look so cute all hung up,” Mark beams back happily. “Don’t they just look so festive and bright?”

“They do.”

“I love them,” Mark states again. “I really do. They...they remind me of Vancouver, remember? When we went to go see the lights together?”

“Oh...yeah.”

Donghyuck remembers that.

_Two years ago..._

“...Why wouldn’t you want to leave them up until January? They’re so pretty even when Christmas is over,” Mark said with a dumb smile on his face as they walked down the snow-covered street. 

Even though he had ten reasons instantly pop into his head as to why that was a bad idea, he decided to just nod along in agreement. “Yeah, they are pretty, I guess,” Donghyuck said. “I can see why you like them so much.”

_Why do I keep thinking that they’re not as pretty as you?_ He thought.

“Look, see that over there?” Mark pointed to what looked to be a large body of water. “That’s Lafarge Lake. Every year, they put up these amazing Christmas light displays and it always feels so magical when you walk through them,” he beamed excitedly. “And the suspension bridge too – it’s so amazing, you would love it!”

Again, Donghyuck felt that burning sensation rise up somewhere in his stomach, because there was just something enchanting about the way Mark believed in Christmas that made him stop and think, and wonder if he’ll adore Christmas the way Mark does.

All he offered in return was a small but genuine smile.

“I’m sure I would love it. You should take me there.”

“Well come on then, let's head over there together!” Mark said brightly...

_Two years later..._

It’s such a simple phrase and it shouldn’t tug at his heartstrings two years later, but it still does.

_Together._

“You know what, I made fun of you for being such a geek about Christmas but...they are really nice, Mark,” Donghyuck smiles sweetly at him. “You really did do a good job.”

Mark grins back at him. “Thank you! I just feel like the lights make everything feel home-y, yeah? Thanks for coming with me, Hyuck.”

“Oh, yeah, no problem,” Donghyuck laughs. “I was just there to make sure you didn’t go over budget, you know? I’m glad it makes it feel home-y to you.”

Maybe, just maybe, it made Donghyuck feel like he’s at home too.

Maybe it’s Mark’s lights that makes him feel like he’s home.

Or maybe it’s just Mark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/your_penguinpal) | [Curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/hugsy_penguin)


	2. All I Want For Christmas Is You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, the "reverse gay chicken" tag and associated tags will make sense once you read this story. Hopefully, the rules make sense too!

**All I Want For Christmas Is You**

_One week ago..._

It was Jaemin’s idea to hang mistletoe.

Of course, they couldn’t find actual mistletoe, so instead Jaemin had bought some fake mistletoe decorations when he’d gone shopping.

As a sort of game of holiday reverse gay chicken slash assassins, if one of them tricked another under the mistletoe, and the trickster kissed the tricked, then the trickster would get a point and then hide the mistletoe somewhere else in the apartment. They kept score on the whiteboard in the kitchen – whoever got the most kiss points would get to keep Mark’s bike.

To make it fair, a third party had to come in the apartment and hang the mistletoe somewhere when no one was home. Kun, who had Renjun’s keys because he was moving some of his stuff into Renjun’s apartment for temporary storage, had been picked as the one to hang up the mistletoe.

Of course, Kun was absolutely furious when he found the Target bag and receipt with the comfy sweater in it.

“RENJUN!!!!” Kun shouted loudly.

“WHAT?!” Renjun shouted back. 

“You took the comfy sweater I was going to buy at Target!” Kun yelled in Mandarin.

“What?” Renjun said confusedly. “What the hell are you talking about?!”

“Renjun, I see the comfy sweater in that Target bag! And I checked the receipt, you bought this at the same time I was there three days ago!”

“Wait, that was _your_ shopping cart?!” Renjun said incredulously. “I picked you up for dinner with mom and dad back at home, how the hell were you at Target?!”

“I was there with Yukhei looking for a Christmas gift for Ten! Because he wanted it,” Kun says frustratedly. “Oh my god, I cannot believe you stole it from our shopping cart!”

“Hey, in my defense...we had spent hours looking for that comfy sweater!” Renjun replies with hesitant uncertainty. “How long were you looking for that sweater?”

“Renjun, I called five different Targets before I went to that one to make sure they had it in the store!” Kun said aggravatedly.

“Oh yeah? Well...oh never mind, just take it, Jaemin can get coal from me for Christmas,” Renjun sighed.

“No, I’m not taking it,” Kun said exhaustedly. “If anything, it’s Ten who should be getting coal from me for Christmas.”

_Three days ago..._

Surprisingly, Mark had gotten the first two points.

It was entirely an accident. He was opening one of the taller cupboards to get the blender they kept up there, as he was trying to get it for Jaemin so they could make crepes – Jaemin said that was the easiest and most efficient way to make them.

“Hey, Jaemin, can you come over here and help me?” Mark said as he sat on the kitchen counter. “I need you to take the blender when I reach up and bring it down to you.”

“Yeah, sure thing, Mark.”

He got up from the kitchen table and walked to the counter to go help Mark. However, Mark was still seated on the kitchen counter.

He looked smug. Still had a goofy smile, but it was a smug goofy smile.

And Mark almost never looked smug.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Jaemin said casually, although he was definitely unsettled at the expression on Mark’s face.

“Sorry, can you get the blender? I don’t think I’m tall enough to get it,” he said cheekily.

“Oh, yeah, sure–”

He looked up and then he saw it.

“WAIT–”

“Too late!” Mark yelled as he tackled Jaemin and kissed him on the lips.

“NOOOOO!!!!” Jaemin screamed. “NOOOO!!!”

“Ha! I got the first point!” Mark shouted victoriously. “You’re _not_ getting my bike and it’s coming with me to New York!”

“Fuck you Mark, AGH, I cannot believe I fell for that,” Jaemin snarled back. “Stupid, Jaemin, stupid! Why did you ask him to get the blender instead of getting it yourself?!”

“Okay, I wanna hide the mistletoe now, so get out of the apartment for five minutes while I tape it up somewhere else,” Mark gloated cockily. “Go outside, _Loser Na_.”

Jaemin rolled his eyes. “Still not gonna catch on, _Loser Lee_.”

[ **SCORE** : Mark **1** | Jaemin **0** ]

_Five minutes later…_

“Okay, you can come inside now!” Mark said through the apartment door.

“Finally, it took you forever to hide it,” Jaemin said annoyedly as Mark unlocked the door.

“Hey.”

“What?”

“Look behind you,” Mark grinned.

Jaemin felt his mind go numb.

He turned around, and there was mistletoe taped to the top of the door–

“FU–”

Mark cut him off with another kiss.

“I am _winning_ , baby! That’s Mark 2, Na Snakemin 0!” Mark giggled gleefully.

[ **SCORE** : Mark **2** | Jaemin **0** ]

_Today…_

Jaemin, ultra hyper competitive, is not one to lose at the game he started and had been delighted to take the lead over the last three days, easily turning the tables when Mark had made the rookie mistake of trying to hide the mistletoe in the cupboards again. 

And now, he’s going to be the first to kiss Jeno, which will absolutely _infuriate_ Donghyuck, because no one had been able to snag Jeno yet.

Jeno walks up the apartment complex’s stairs, coming home from a review session for one of his engineering finals. His headphones are still on, blasting SHINee’s Colorful as he unlocks the door, not able to hear anything quite clearly.

“Jeno!” a muffled voice says.

Jeno looks up to see Jaemin smiling widely at him. His mouth is moving like he’s saying something, but he can’t hear through his headphones. He taps them with his index finger to indicate that he can’t hear anything. Jaemin just smiles even wider and motions for him to come into his room.

Confused, Jeno shrugs and puts his backpack down in the living room. This is probably just Jaemin asking him again if he wants to get the holiday cup with him and Heejin after finals – he’d already told him no, because his engineering final is that day.

Jeno takes off his headphones and left them on the kitchen table as he walks into Jaemin and Jisung’s room.

“Hey Nana, you wanted to talk to me?”

“No, I just wanted to show you something,” Jaemin says, still grinning.

“What?”

“This,” he says gleefully as he pointed to the mistletoe taped behind his door.

“HEY–”

“Less talking, more KISSING!” Jaemin yells as he tackles Jeno and kisses him on the lips.

“There are children in here, by the way!” Jisung says from his top bunk as he scrolls through his phone.

“God, are we still playing this game?” Jeno groans as he recoils away from Jaemin.

“Mistletoe hung where you can see,” Jaemin says playfully as he pointed to the fake synthetic leaves again, “playing until Mark leaves, baby!”

“You two need a room?” Jisung asks sarcastically.

“No, but I need to leave the room,” Jeno sighs as he walks out and closed the door to Jaemin and Jisung’s room.

[ **SCORE:** Mark **2** **|** Renjun **4** **|** Jeno **0** | Donghyuck **9** | Jaemin **8** | Jisung **1** ]

_Fifteen minutes later…_

“YOU kissed Jeno?!” Donghyuck yells a bit too loudly. “YOU kissed Jeno before _me_?!”

“Why, is that a problem?” Jaemin smugly gloats. “Is it a problem that I’m closer to Jeno and I’m the one who kissed him before you?”

“No, that’s not a problem, because I still have a one-point lead,” Donghyuck sneers with a repugnant grimace on his face. “I’m going to kiss Jeno _and_ beat you _and_ get Mark’s bike!”

“This is just a game, you guys,” Jeno tries to cut through the tension. “You can kiss me whenever you want to–”

“No, because this isn’t just a game, it’s life, and I’m WINNING!” Donghyuck shouts a bit too loudly.

“Oh yeah?” Jaemin smirks.

“Yeah!”

“Oh, so you’re winning?”

“Yeah, I am!”

“Say, Hyuck, what’s hanging over your head right now?” 

With wide eyes and a shocked stare, Donghyuck breaks eye contact with Jaemin to look up at his ceiling and–

“NO!”

Too late, Jaemin goes in and plants a sloppy wet kiss on his lips.

“You’re infuriating,” Donghyuck seethes through his teeth.

“And you’re,” Jaemin pauses in between as he looks at Donghyuck, all flustered and disheveled, “now tied with _me_.”

“And _you_ ,” he hisses at Jeno, “ _you_ knew it was there the whole time?!”

“What? It’s not like he’s winning now, you’re just tied for points,” Jeno shrugs. “What’s the big deal?”

“You’re never getting a kiss from me, forget it.”

Jeno grows alert to that statement. “Hey, now, wait a second, don’t get all–”

“See? Emotionally manipulating him to feel guilty about helping out his _best_ friend?” Jaemin taunts Donghyuck. “I’m going to win this game, Hyuck Finn.”

“Oh, it’s _on_ , Jaemint Mojito,” Donghyuck spits out venomously. “I am _so_ going to be the Kissing King this Christmas!”

[ **SCORE:** Mark **2** **|** Renjun **4** **|** Jeno **0** | Donghyuck **9** | Jaemin **9** | Jisung **1** ]

_One day later…_

“Hah! I got you under the mistletoe,” Chenle yells proudly. “Now kiss me, Jisung!”

“What? No, you have to be the one to kiss me, that’s how this works, Chenle.”

“Oh, really? Wait, what are your apartment game rules again?” Chenle asks confusedly.

Jisung sighs. “Maybe if you had paid attention when I was explaining the rules while we were shopping in Target–”

Chenle cuts him off and kisses him on the lips, much to some protesting yelps from Jisung.

“Was that against the rules?” Chenle says playfully.

“Umm...um...I, I don’t...I don’t–JAEMIN!” Jisung yells flusteredly, entire face starting to glow bright like a peach and causing Chenle to laugh loudly.

[ **SCORE:** Mark **2** **|** Renjun **4** **|** Jeno **0** | Donghyuck **9** | Jaemin **9** | Chenle **1** | Jisung **1** ]

  
  


_Two days later..._

It gets a bit ridiculous when Mark invites Yeri and Chaeyoung over for dinner.

Renjun is currently in the lead, having tricked Jaemin into thinking they were having a serious discussion about their backups, only for him to have found the mistletoe and re-hidden it from Jaemin’s room into the fixture of the kitchen light. He has since racked up points kissing Mark, Jeno, Jaemin, and Donghyuck three times.

(“You just keep coming back to me, don’t you,” Donghyuck winked playfully. 

“Yeah, keep saying that and next time I’ll come back around to punch you in the face,” Renjun deadpanned.)

However, eventually Jisung got the leg up when he had found the mistletoe when Renjun had been hiding it. After Renjun had gone to a review session for a final, Jisung snuck out from his room and put the mistletoe in a holiday bag for Mark, under the pretense that he had bought him candies (much to Mark’s delight and inevitable disappointment).

Jisung had then decided to put an end to this (because Jaemin had scored the most points on him and he was starting to think Jaemin made this game up just as an excuse to kiss him all the time) and hung the mistletoe up where everyone could see it – right above the doorframe of the apartment.

Since everyone knows where it is now, everyone wants to be caught under it so that they can reclaim the mistletoe and take it back. The only problem? Since _everyone_ wants to do it, no one wants to do it.

Thus Jisung has created the perfect conundrum of conflict. On the one hand, Jaemin and Donghyuck both want to take back the mistletoe and rack up kissing points. On the other hand, neither of them want someone else (especially Renjun) to take it, so they make sure to always come home in groups of three, or that Renjun always comes home when two other people are home (because the rule was that two people had to kiss under the mistletoe).

Technically, the three of them could’ve asked Mark or Jeno (who had given up at this point) to come kiss him under the mistletoe, but Mark is busy studying for finals and packing for New York, so he gets a pass. And Jeno doesn’t want to be kissed just so one of them can win a game.

“Kisses are special, you guys,” Jeno says meaningfully. “They’re supposed to be beautiful moments, like...like tender, and soft. Not forced and to win a game.”

“Oh what are you, a shoujo anime girl?” Jaemin says indignantly as he slams his hands on the kitchen table. “Suck it up and kiss me under that mistletoe!”

“Wha–no! No!” Jeno protests. “I’m not kissing you just so you can win this stupid game.”

“If it’s so stupid then why are you still mad you’re _losing_ ,” Donghyuck jeers him on, scooting in closer to where Jeno is seated. “Now come on, kiss me, Jeno! I know you want to.”

“No, kiss me!” Jaemin insists. “Don’t kiss him, he’s a horrible kisser!”

“Oh, yeah, and you’re somehow better? You get drool everywhere!” Donghyuck argues back.

“Hey! I had just woken up from a nap, that was _not_ fair play,” Jaemin says hotly.

“Oh, but hanging the mistletoe on the showerhead and invading my private personal space is any better?” Donghyuck asks angrily.

“You tried doing the same exact thing to Jeno!” Jaemin counters, full of conviction.

“Yeah, why did you try doing that?” Jeno turns to look at Donghyuck with disappointment. “Come on, Hyuck, that seriously crossed a line.”

“Jeno, you walk around naked after you shower when you act like there’s no one’s home even though you _know_ I am home, don’t act like you’re such a prude,” Donghyuck snaps back.

“Hey! That was _our_ secret,” Jeno says angrily. “You know I like to air dry after I shower!”

The apartment door unlocks and Mark walks in with Chaeyoung and Yeri behind him. “Hey guys–”

“Mark! Kiss me now under the mistletoe, you fool!” Donghyuck scrambles over to tackle Mark.

“No, kiss me under the mistletoe! I won’t look at you naked after you shower!” Jaemin yells as he sprints and pushes Donghyuck over.

Donghyuck grabs onto Jaemin’s legs and he also falls down and trips, both of them now tangled up on the floor.

“You know, this has all the makings of a porno,” Chaeyoung says sarcastically. “Guys on top of each other on the floor, people looking at you naked after you shower? Right as two attractive girls walk in? You could call it The Mistle-Hoes.”

“Aww, you think I’m attractive?” Yeri coos affectionately.

“Yes, thank you for that...compliment, Chae, also I thought I got a free pass this week?” Mark confusedly states, looking at Jaemin and Donghyuck as they both get back on their feet. “I have finals, guys. Look, if you want my bike so bad, I can just–”

“This isn’t about the bike! This is about _winning_ FAIR and square, which is what I am going to do,” Jaemin huffs.

“Oh please! You used Jisung to get five points in three hours! That’s cheating!” Donghyuck shouts.

“Is this that game of mistletoe kissing assassins you were telling us about, Mark?” Yeri says as she throws her coat onto the couch.

“Yeah, that one,” Mark replies.

She smirks. “Oh, so the one where you got to kiss–”

“Aaaand that’s enough out of you,” Mark hastily cuts Yeri off before she can finish that sentence. “Alright, shouldn’t you guys be studying for finals?”

“Mark, we’re both liberal arts majors, we don’t have any finals to study for, only essays to write when it’s three hours before they’re due at 11:59 PM,” Jaemin states as if this is obvious. “Donghyuck’s only taking one econ class this semester anyways, he already front loaded most of them in summer school.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right.”

“Come on, it’s finals, let us have fun, yeah? Don’t you want us to have fun, Mark?” Donghyuck says sweetly. “Come on, Mark. You look so beautiful tonight, oh, wow, have you been working out?” he asks, batting his eyelashes. “Brains and brawn too, huh?”

Mark starts to blush. “Uh, uh, well, I uh, I have been carrying, um, a lot of boxes this week,” Mark stammers out flusteredly.

“Boxes! Wow, heavy duty, you’re so strong,” Donghyuck giggles playfully. “Have you always been this strong?”

“Uh, I, okay, okay, um, okay okay okay yeah I guess–”

“Oh my god, I cannot take another second of this,” Jeno groans. 

“Neither can I, the secondhand embarrassment is real,” Yeri laughs.

“Seriously, major porno vibes guys,” Chaeyoung remarks. “Also, I think I have a solution to this whole mistletoe thing.”

“What is it?” Jaemin asks eagerly. “I kiss Mark and get the mistletoe back and win the game fair and square?”

“Actually, Yukhei told us how Kun had to hide the mistletoe when the game first started, because you needed a neutral third party to start the game,” Chaeyoung explains. “Me and Yeri are neutral third parties, since we don’t live here, right?”

“What are you suggesting, Chae?” Mark asks.

“Just have me and Yeri kiss under the mistletoe and then we’ll hide it for you guys,” Chaeyoung suggests. “It’ll be like you all getting a clean slate.”

“What?” Mark says shockedly. “Come on, that’s ridiculous, you guys don’t have to–”

“Actually, that’s a good idea,” Jaemin nods. “I think she should do it.”

“I agree,” Donghyuck adds. “Plus, it’d be kinda hot.”

“But you guys are asking them to kiss, like, that’s so gross and disrespectful–”

“Oh put a sock in it, Mark,” Yeri interrupts him. “I’ll kiss Chaeyoung under the mistletoe. I could use the practice. It’s not like I haven’t kissed her before.”

Mark turns to look at Yeri with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. “WHAT!?”

“Oh yeah, me and Chae have made out before, don’t you know?” Yeri says. “I thought Yukhei and Jungwoo told you about this.”

“They did _not_!”

“Yeah, we lost a bet, so between me, Lippie, and Chaebae, two of us had to make out,” Yeri replies. “Which I’m kinda sad about, Chae. I wish we won that bet, you know?”

“Oh, we totally should have tried harder to win that bet,” Chaeyoung nods. “It would’ve been fun to see frat boy Xuxi squirm having to make out with Jungwoo for one minute.”

“What kind of bet was this?!” Mark says flusteredly.

“Hey, why haven’t we ever had a bet like that?” Jaemin asks.

“Because this is just a game of kissing, making out is a whole different thing, dude,” Donghyuck responds. “Although I’m sure Shou-Jeno over there thinks otherwise.”

“Hey!”

“Anyways, Merry Christmas, Yeri,” Chaeyoung smiles as she wraps her arms around Yeri’s neck.

“Merry Christmas, Chaebae,” Yeri grins good-naturedly. “Oh, and you guys are welcome for this, by the way, for our help with your whole mistletoe situation.”

Then she leans in to kiss Chaeyoung.

Chaeyong and Yeri kiss and make out, as promised, underneath the mistletoe for all the boys to see.

Suddenly it becomes unbearably hot in their apartment, as the four boys watch Mark’s former apartment mates make out in their doorway. Chaeyoung tangles her hands in Yeri’s hair, carding her fingers through her locks. Yeri inhales a little sharply for air, gasping before moving in to kiss Chaeyoung again, wrapping her arms around her back.

To Chaeyoung, Yeri tastes like peppermint and chocolate, probably from the holiday drinks an hour earlier when they’d met Mark at Starbucks to study. Her lips are a bit cracked from the cold weather, but she likes how rough they feel against hers, how fiery they are to the touch. She makes a note that perhaps that might be a kink – she’ll explore it later. Her hair smells like fruit and ginger. Chaeyoung also makes a note to scold her for using her hair conditioner. 

To Yeri, Chaeyoung kisses like it’s a profession, where her job is to give the best kisses in the world. It's no secret that Jungwoo and Chaeyoung are the best kissers in their apartment – she knows they fooled around a bit for a reason. Her lips are soft, tender, taste like cherries and apple pie (she’s not sure if it’s from the hot apple cider drink Chaeyoung ordered earlier, the pumpkin bread she ate, or a combination of both). It’s rough but gentle, passionate yet loving, tender and mild yet fiery and wistful. It’s no secret that Chaeyoung was and still is one of the best kisses she’s ever had.

[ **SCORE:** Mark **3** **|** Renjun **8** | Jeno **0** | Donghyuck **12** | Jaemin **15** | Jisung **2** | Chaeyoung **4** ]

Then, once they feel satisfied, the two of them stop and turn to look at the four of them with sly grins.

Donghyuck, Jeno, and Jaemin look absolutely speechless, completely blank in the face. Jeno has a slack jaw, Yeri swears that she sees it hit the kitchen table on its way down. Jaemin is hazy in the eyes, surprising, considering Yeri knows he’s not straight. Even Donghyuck, who’s always been a bit of a question mark to Yeri, has eyes glazed over with schoolboy admiration. 

However, Mark looks completely mortified and flustered, hiding his grimacing mouth with his hands as he looks at them with embarrassed eyes.

“So, should we hide your mistletoe now, boys?” Chaeyoung says sultrily.

“Oh, uh, yeah, um...I’m...gonna be in my room, go ahead and hide it,” Jeno says curtly as he quickly gets up and strides towards his door before locking it.

“Yeah, uh, same, uh, just call us when I’m done– _you’re_ , you’re done,” Donghyuck adds hastily as he goes into his room and locks the door.

“And I need to, uh, think about if I’m not straight, so I’m going to think about it in the bathroom, yeah, hah! I’ll be there until you’re finished hiding the mistletoe, okay!” Jaemin says in a high-pitched cadence as he rushes into the bathroom, the doorknob lock clicking behind him.

Chaeyoung and Yeri just laugh. “Guess we still got it, huh?” Yeri says. “Was that better than the first time?”

“Your lips were a bit chapped, but I think it felt as nice as the first time,” Chaeyoung replies matter-of-factly. “Great kissing, by the way! You’re really fiery.”

“Eh, I’ve had better performances,” Yeri shrugs. “You though, you were on fire, I could taste that lip balm you used. You have to buy me some of it for Christmas.”

“Oh, come on, I don’t see what all the fuss is about,” Chaeyoung laughs. “Seriously, why do you guys think me and Jungwoo are such good kissers? We’re just gentle, that’s all.”

The two of them laugh together, both feeling quite satisfied and happy with themselves.

Yeri glances back at Mark and notices that his expression has not changed. “You okay, Mark?”

“I...that was so _wrong_ ,” Mark whines squeamishly. “You guys are like my sisters! That was like...that was like if I was watching my sisters make out! It was like...it was like incest!”

Chaeyoung crosses her arms. “Are you seriously comparing the two of us kissing to incest?”

“No, wait, nononono okay okay okay that’s not what I meant–”

“Calm down Mark, I’m just playing with you,” she replies teasingly, shoving Mark in the shoulder. “I’m glad you’re close enough friends with us to not have found that hot. You’re a good bean,” she utters cutely as she pinches Mark’s cheek.

Mark yelps. “Uh, thank you? It’s just that, yes, I do like you guys, just...in like a sibling-friend way. Sorry, it’s strictly platonic. So seeing that was...really weird.”

“No offense taken,” Chaeyoung smiles back. “Can’t say the same for Jungwoo and Yukhei though. They had the same reaction as your roommates. Would you ever have that reaction?”

“Of course I wouldn’t! You guys are like – you’re like sisters to me. It’s...it’s just weird, I’m sorry but I did _not_ find that in any way attractive,” Mark says uncomfortably.

“Well that’s okay, I’ll still consider that a success, seeing as I got all three of your roommates turned on, including Jaemin,” she smirks. “And, I got to kiss Yeri.”

“Awww, you’re so sweet to me, Chae,” Yeri coos. “If I were a lesbian, I would totally date you! There’s always Jungeun though.”

“Oh please, have you ever tried kissing Jungeun?” Chaeyoung quips sassily. “She kisses like a drunk sorority girl on a party boat.”

Now both Yeri and Mark turned to look at her with wildly surprised expressions.

Oh, did I never tell you guys that story?” Chaeyoung says contemplatively. “Huh, I thought I did. Okay well, long story short, there was this girl, named Sooyoug–”

“Wait, Jungeun _isn’t_ the drunk sorority girl in this story?”

_One week later..._

After struggling to get Mark and Jaemin back on their feet from a holiday party, Jeno, Donghyuck and Renjun had managed to walk the two of them all the way back to their apartment. Jisung had conveniently made an excuse that he was walking Chenle back to his apartment so he wouldn’t have to help. Exhausted and, frankly, annoyed, they had given up on trying to get them to shower and had left Mark and Jaemin to sleep on the living room couch.

“Rudolph?” Mark drunkenly says, his sleepy head resting on one of Renjun’s thrifted throw pillows. “The red-nosed reindeer?”

“Yes, Jack?” Jaemin replies, inebriated. “The Frost?”

“I love you,” Mark says, snuggling closer to him. “I love your shiny nose.”

“Oh my gosh,” Jaemin whines in his aegyo voice, “that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me, Jack. I love you too!”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to kiss the sun,” Mark says petulantly. “I really wanted to.”

“I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable, I really wanted both of us to kiss him,” Jaemin replies. “But then… you might have melted!”

“Can I tell you a secret?” Mark says as he starts feeling drowsy.

“What is it, Jack?”

“Rudolph...I really like to kiss reindeers when I’m drunk.” Mark giggles lightly after saying that, and then hiccups a bit.

Jaemin gasps. “Then Jack...can I ask you something?”

“Yes, Rudolph?”

“Jack...will you marry me? Can I be Mr. Frost?”

“I’m so tireddd,” Mark whines. “Can you kiss me to sleep instead?”

“On the cheek?”

Mark whines. “Nooooo, on the lipsss, like Sleeping Beauty.”

Jaemin struggles to position himself over Mark on the couch for thirty seconds before finally crashing into Mark’s chest and crawling his way up. He kisses Mark’s chin.

“You’re such a good kisser, Rudolph,” Mark giggles.

“You’re such a good kiss, Jack,” Jaemin smiles happily.

Jaemin moves up to Mark’s face and they unceremoniously kiss each other on the lips. Jaemin rests his head in between Mark’s shoulder and the couch pillow.

“Good night, Rudolph,” Mark yawns sleepily.

“Good morning, Jack,” Jaemin dozes off, cuddling closer to Mark.

[ **SCORE:** Mark **4** **|** Renjun **12** | Jeno **0** | Donghyuck **17** | Jaemin **17** | Jisung **6** ]

After making sure they had both passed out, Renjun stops recording.

“Did you get all of that?” Donhyuck looks at Renjun with a malevolent grin plastered on his face. They’re definitely going to hold this against Mark and Jaemin in the future, and Donghyuck feels absolutely high on power and sadism just thinking about the potential use of this blasphemous blackmail material.

“Oh, I most certainly did,” Renjun chuckles evilly. “All six minutes and seven seconds of it.”

“This is wrong, you guys,” Jeno says. “This is so, so wrong.”

“Jeno, you’re blusshinnggg,” Donghyuck teases. “Did Jaemin make your heart all mushy?”

“I’m not! I just...it was cute, that was all,” Jeno says shakily, looking away from Mark and Jaemin passed out on the couch in front of him. “Come on, you guys, it was cute! You shouldn’t have videotaped them.”

“But they weren’t as cute as you are right now,” Renjun says teasingly as he walks back into his room.

“I’m not cute,” Jeno pouts.

“Are you jealous that Jaemin has now kissed everyone in this apartment more than once _except_ you?” Donghyuck says playfully. “Because we can arrange for that to happen.”

“Shut up, Hyuck, I’m not jealous,” Jeno says. “I just thought it was cute, that’s all.”

“Oh, okay, so when Mark and Jaemin do it, it’s cute. But when I try to kiss you, suddenly it’s gross and you run away,” Donghyuck says sulkily. “Come on, I know you secretly wanna kiss me. Wanna find the mistletoe?”

“No I don’t.”

“Hey, Jeno, can you come here for a second?” Renjun beckons him over to their room.

Jeno walks into their room to see Renjun. “What’s up?”

“I don’t know, why don’t you look and see?” Renjun smiles.

He looks up and sees mistletoe hanging from their ceiling.

“WAIT–”

Renjun suddenly grabs Jeno and pins him to the bed. “Now, Hyuck!”

“YOU GUYS STOP–”

Jeno is freakishly strong and is about to break free of Renjun’s grasp, but not before Donghyuck barges in and also throws himself on top of Jeno. He plants a sloppy wet kiss on Jeno’s lips, causing Jeno to turn the pinkest shade possible and whine loudly.

“You guys are the worst!” Jeno says in the most unconvincing mean tone. “I hate you!”

“Merry Christmas, Cheerful Lee,” Donghyuck replies as he pats Jeno’s left cheek gently, smirking at how embarrassed and dewy-eyed Jeno looks and how hot his cheek feels. “I know you’ve been asking Santa for that kiss for awhile now.”

Jeno is simply groaning like he’s in frustrating pain, but Donghyuck doesn’t miss the way his mouth curls up all kittenish, like he’s trying to hold back the biggest smile.

“And that,” Donghyuck gloats to Renjun victoriously, “is how you win the game _fair_ and square. Thank you for the teamwork, Injunnie.”

“Anytime,” Renjun replies evilly. “I love beating Jaemin at his own games.”

[ **SCORE:** Mark **4** **|** Renjun **12** | Jeno **1** | Donghyuck **18** | Jaemin **17** | Jisung **6** ]

“Oh, and by the way, those kisses Jaemin and Mark gave each other on the couch drunk?” Donghyuck asks pleasantly.

“Don’t count, because they’re not under the mistletoe, yep,” Renjun nods smugly.

[ **SCORE:** Mark **3** **|** Renjun **12** | Jeno **1** | Donghyuck **18** | Jaemin **16** | Jisung **6** ]

**WINNER: DONGHYUCK**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/your_penguinpal) | [Curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/hugsy_penguin)


	3. Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More or less based on the Starbucks holiday cup craze.

**Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer**

_6:02 AM, 20 miles away_

“Get in losers, we’re going shopping!” Jaemin yells at Heejin and Hyunjin as he sees them sprint towards the car.

“Hey, Renjun! Thanks for the ride!” Hyunjin replies politely as she and Heejin get in the backseat with Donghyuck. “Hey, Hyuck!”

“No problem, Hyunjin!”

“Hey, Hyunjin!” 

“Uh, hello, do I get a ‘hello’ too?” Heejin says annoyedly.

“No, because I only say hello to people who _aren’t_ annoying,” Donghyuck replies.

“Oh, so then do you use yourself as the standard for what you find annoying?” Heejin fires back.

“Sorry, what was that? I couldn’t hear you over how _annoying_ you are!”

“I said, you are the standard for what is considered _annoying_ since that’s your middle name!”

“Weak. Seriously, if you’re gonna be annoying, at least get better comebacks.”

“Oh, I could think of better comebacks all day, but it still won’t burn as much as Mark not coming back to visit you when he moves to New York.”

The two SoCal boys and other Korean girl in the car collectively gasp. Donghyuck just stares at Heejin, mouth wide open and speechless.

“Damn, Heekki, that’s brutal, even for me,” Hyunjin whistles in admiration.

“Hey! You don’t get to use that nickname, I’m the one who made it up,” Donghyuck snaps annoyedly. “And fine, I concede. That was brutally honest. You win this round, Jeon Heejin.”

_6:23 AM, 15 miles away_

“What the fuck, why is there traffic?!” Jaemin screams frustratedly. “It’s not even 7 yet! The freeway should not be this fucking slow!”

“Calm down, dude,” Donghyuck says sternly. “We’ll get there in time before your coffee shop opens.”

“No, but for real, I _told_ you that we should’ve left earlier, Nana,” Heejin says condescendingly. “But no, you wanted to get your beauty sleep instead of getting on the freeway _before_ rush hour!”

“Shut up, everyone knows rush hour starts at 7!” Jaemin protests hotly.

“Not during the holiday season, it doesn’t!” 

“Heejin, you don’t even drive!”

“Neither do you!”

“Yes I do! I have a car.”

“Then why are you making Renjun drive us?!”

“Because I already told you–”

“Enough,” Renjun declares harshly, glaring at the both of them. “Jaemin, if you’re going to be in my passenger seat, I kindly ask you to _not_ annoy the ever living crap out of me during rush hour on the 405. 

“But–”

“Just turn on my Christmas playlist on Spotify,” Renjun says bluntly. “Might as well start supporting Mark financially.”

“Ugh, but I _hate_ Christmas music,” Donghyuck whines.

_Rockin’ around the Christmas tree..._

“Then why did you agree to come with us in the first place?!” Renjun says exasperatedly.

He shrugs. “I didn’t want to be home alone. I wanted to see Heejin and Hyunjin, and no one’s going to be home today since Jeno’s going to the library to study for his final later,” Donghyuck explains. “And you guys were going to be out getting breakfast and getting the holiday cup. Mark’s busy moving shit.”

“You know, it has been awhile since you, me, Heejin, and Jeno have all hung out,” Hyunjin thinks aloud. “We don’t see each other as much as we used to in high school.”

“Well thank _god_ for that,” Heejin scoffs. “It’s like all you and Jeno talk about whenever the two of you are together is just cats, cats, and felines!”

“Seriously though, it’s kinda bad,” Donghyuck agrees with her. “I mean, cats are fine, but watching cat videos on YouTube for an hour with you guys gets kind of maddening.”

_You will get a sentimental feeling when you hear..._

Hyunjin just shrugs. “Me and Jeno are just cat people. I guess you guys are just dog people.”

“No, I mean, we like both, I’m just saying...we don’t have to talk about cats every single time we hang out with Jeno, babe,” Heejin says.

“Heejin, if we ever get married, I already told you, I’m going to become an old cat lady,” Hyunjin remarks calmly. “Marriage means loving each other in sickness and in health. I’ve already accepted your weebish tendencies. Well, loving cats is my sickness.”

“Hey, that’s different!” Donghyuck defends her. “That’s not a sickness, that’s just us being fans of anime. There are no such thing as cat fans because they’re just sick...wait,” Donghyuck trails off confusedly, unsure of where he’s going with this as he just proved Hyunjin’s point.

“Uh, yes there are?” Hyunjin says rhetorically. “They’re called Hyunjin and Jeno.”

Heejin sighs. “I don’t know why I even brought this up. We’re not getting married anytime soon, Hyunjin?”

“Oh, we’re not?” Hyunjin smiles craftily. “Then why were you looking at white dresses on Nordstrom the other day?”

Heejin feels the exact moment Jaemin, Renjun,and Donghyuck all turn to look at her with wide, incredulous eyes.

“Hey! How did you, when did, you – I, wait, that–that was just a lapse in judgment!” Heejin squeals in surprise, shocked that Hyunjin had seen that. “I was checking the sales and they happened to have a wedding dress on sale that I thought looked cute!”

“Right.”

“Ugh, I don’t even know why I bother with you anymore,” Heejin grumbles. “You know that I don’t want to get married until I’m at least twenty-five.”

“You also said you would never date someone until college, and yet here you are dating someone from high school,” Hyunjin smiles affectionately. “Face it, Heekki. You’re stuck with me till death do us part.”

“Ugh, then kill me now!” Heejin groans as Donghyuck cackles next to her at how embarrassed she is at Hyunjin’s sudden gushiness.

“Aw, young love,” Donghyuck coos. “Doesn’t it just make your heart swell up with joy?”

And while Donghyuck definitely feels her hand slap his chest fairly strongly in retaliation, he still can’t stop grinning at her, which makes Heejin just even more embarrassed.

_6:38 AM, 10 miles away_

Traffic moves at a snail’s pace, barely reaching over 10 miles an hour at some points. Cars merging, lights blinking, horns honking, exhaust fuming, people groaning.

_It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…_

If there were no traffic, Renjun would have them to the hipster coffee shop in the next fifteen minutes, and they’d be fine. However, at the rate traffic is going, they might end up being there fifteen minutes after the place opens at 7 AM.

Jaemin, Hyunjin, and Heejin really, really want to get one of the one hundred seasonal holiday cups that the coffee shop is giving away for free, after they saw an advertisement for it on social media. Their location near their university had closed down earlier, so they wanted to head downtown to get the free cup, which came in four different designs.

With the help of Renjun, and Donghyuck tagging along to hang out with them, the five college students journey to the coffee shop, their own personal farm stable.

_And mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again..._

However, as the clock inches closer to the seventh hour and they sit stuck gridlocked between vehicles, Jaemin starts to get even more antsy.

“Fuck, what if they run out by the time we get there?!” Jaemin says nervously. 

“Don’t say that! Don’t say that, if you say it, it’ll come true,” Heejin replies, antsy in her seat.

“Just stay calm, everyone,” Hyunjin says as she opens her knapsack. “Here, does anyone want some bread?”

“You have bread?!” Heejin exclaims. 

“What kind?” Renjun asks.

“Pineapple melon–”

“Gimme!” Jaemin snatches the bread from her hands and begins to stress eat it.

“You’re welcome,” Hyunjin says curtly.

“Hyunjin, where did you even have the time to get the bread?!” Heejin stares at her in disbelief. 

_And the thing that will make them ring…_

“Your final ended at 8 PM yesterday.”

She just shrugs. “A girl can never be kept away from her bread.”

“Oh, I got one,” Donghyuck says, enlightened with a new idea. “Would you rather give up cats or bread for the rest of your life?”

“Cats,” Hyunjin responds swiftly in return.

“Wait, really?” Heejin says.

“I awgrhee,” Jaemin says in between mouthfuls of bread. “T’is bwead ih tew die foh!”

“Chew with your mouth closed in my car, please.”

“Sowwy, Juwwnee.”

“I brought one for each of us, if you guys want one,” Hyunjin says as she pulls out four more pineapple melon breads from her knapsack.

“Wait, so you brought your knapsack _just_ to bring bread?” Donghyuck says.

“Yep.”

“Well...I can’t fault you for your commitment. She’s definitely a keeper, Heekki. Why did it take you so long to ask her out again?”

“Oh shut up, Hyuck.”

_6:52 AM, 3 miles away_

“Fuck, we’re going to miss it,” Jaemin whines. “We’re going to have driven all the way out here just to get these _stupid_ holiday cups, and then when we get there, there’s going to be _none_ left because everyone took them all and then we’ll all be even more pissed off than we were and–OW!”

_Christmastime is here..._

“No cranky complaining in my car until we park in front of this goddamn place,” Renjun states authoritatively, smacking Jaemin in the back of the head again. “You seriously get so moody without your iced Americanos.”

“This isn’t even your car!”

“Jaemin, don’t push it.”

“But it’s not! You share this car with Kun–”

“Jaemin.”

_Their favorite time of year..._

Jaemin whines. “We’re never going to make it.”

“The sign literally says the offramp is a quarter mile away, we are fine.”

_And joyful memories there..._

He groans loudly. “We’re going to miss the cute polar bear cup with the red scarf and–”

“Oh my god, _shut up_!” Heejin yells at him from the backseat. “Enough! If we get it, we get it! If we don’t, we don’t! Enough of this bitching and whining and moaning, what are you, a twelve year-old in middle school?”

“No, even worse,” Renjun grimaces with an unfortunate tone. “He’s Jaemin, nineteen, never learned how to fucking read, and forever a former _theatre kid._ ”

_7:03 AM, 2 miles away_

“Yeah, you _better_ honk!” Renjun shouts as he curses at the car behind him in Chinese. 

“Fuck, we’re almost there, okay everyone get your wallets _ready_!” Heejin screams at the top of her lungs.

“Heejin, the cups are free,” Hyunjin says coolly. “You get them when you order your drink.”

_7:08 AM, 0.1 miles away_

“Fuck, look at the line, noooo!” Jaemin yells almost theatrically. “We’re never getting them!”

“Shit! Shit, someone, get out of the car, get out of the car, Donghyuck GET OUT OF THE FUCKING CAR!” Heejin shouts erratically. “You and Hyunjin are not leaving without those goddamn cups!”

“On it, on it,” Donghyuck says as he and Hyunjin scramble out of the car in the middle of the street. They weave through the cars stuck behind the traffic light as they get in line for the coffee shop. Renjun starts to look for parking as Heejin and Jaemin try looking for any available spot.

“Shit, that was kind of scary,” Donghyuck notes. “Not running through the middle of traffic, that’s normal. Just...how crazy they are about this cup. I mean, technically, it’s not free, because you get it with the purchase of a drink.”

“It’s just a side-effect of capitalism,” Hyunjin shrugs nonchalantly. “As soon as you say the word ‘free’, suddenly everyone and their mother wants it.”

“Right?” Donghyuck nods in agreement, ecstatic that someone finally agrees with him about it. “It’s a total scam.”

Some people in line turn around and give them a funny look. Donghyuck and Hyunjin ignore them.

“Do you want your pineapple melon bread now?” Hyunjin asks as she takes another loaf of sweet bun out of her knapsack. “Technically, I brought two for each person.”

Donghyuck grins happily at her. “I love you and your love for bread, Hyunjin.”

“And I love you for all your faults, including your total hypocrisy of hating capitalism while simultaneously double majoring in econ,” Hyunjin replies cheerfully.

_7:20 AM, 0 miles away_

“I can’t believe every parking space within a three block radius was taken, fuck!” Jaemin says, shivering in the chilly air of the cold morning as the sun starts to peak up above the clouds. “Do you think they got the holiday cups?”

“I don’t know, I just hope Hyunjin got one,” Heejin replies, rubbing her hands to keep warm, arms linked together between Jaemin and Renjun as the three of them walk towards the crowd in front of the coffee shop. “I know she really wanted that cat holiday cup.”

“The one with the white cat in the green and red striped sweater all tangled up in Christmas lights?” Renjun asks. “That one is so cute, oh my god!”

“I know,” Heejin pouts. “All the designs are so cute. Me and Jaemin both wanted the cup with the bear hugging a Christmas tree.”

“I don’t even know if Donghyuck remembered to get the holiday cup,” Jaemin says worriedly. “Neither him nor Hyunjin responded to our texts.”

“Where are they? Do you see them?” Renjun asks as they make their way towards the crowd.

“They said they were at the corner table...which corner?” Heejin wonders out loud as she tries discerning where they are amongst the throng of bodies and cups of coffee.

“Hey!”

“Did you guys hear that?” Jaemin asks.

“YO, Heeki, Nana, Injun, we’re over here!” Donghyuck shouts.

The three of them turn to see Donghyuck waving at them from the corner in the back, at a table with three empty seats. With their arms still linked, the two SoCal boys and Korean girl friend make their way towards Hyunjin and Donghyuck and their five cups of caffeinated drinks.

“Hey!” Hyunjin says when they finally sit down at the table. 

“Hey, so...oh, there’s only two cups,” Renjun says awkwardly.

“Yeah, we were number ninety nine and one hundred,” Donghyuck replies with disbelief. “Can you believe that? Were were really lucky to get them, these were the last two they had!”

“Oh…”

The one Hyunjin holds is the cat one. The one Donghyuck holds is the polar bear one.

“Here you go, Jaem,” Donghyuck hands off the cup to him, Jaemin looking absolutely delighted that he has the polar bear cup.

“I can’t believe it,” he whispers giddily. “I...I have it! I have the polar bear cup! One of twenty five polar bear cups in existence!”

“And I have my cat cup!” Hyunjin says excitedly. “But it’s not my drink in here.”

“Oh, it’s not?” Jaemin says puzzledly. “Then who’s is it?”

It’s Heejin’s gingerbread macchiato, with little red and green sprinkles on top.

“Wait, what?” Heejin exclaims confusedly, feeling conflicting emotions all at once. “Hyunjin, you were the one who got the cup! You wanted this one! You should be the one to keep the cat cup.”

“Yes, I did want the cat cup, you’re right,” Hyunjin smiles gently. “But you know how Hyuck asked if I would rather give up cats or bread, and I said bread?”

“Yeah,” Heejin affirms that she remembers.

“Well...I would give up bread for you, and if I would give up cats for bread, and bread for you, then by the transitive property, I would give up this cat cup just for you,” Hyunjin finishes happily.

“But! But, wait, wait,” Heejin protests hotly, “Hyunjin, this is _your_ cup! You got it, and it’s the one you wanted.”

“But I want to give it to you even more,” Hyunjin says with a grin. “I know you really want a holiday cup. So here, take it.”

“But–”

“It’s okay, Heekki, honestly, I’m happier the cup is with you than with me,” Hyunjin responds warmly. “At the end of the day, it’s just an empty cup. It means more when it’s filled with my love for you!”

“Awwwwww,” Renjun and Donghyuck both hum affectionately (Jaemin is too busy guzzling his coffee like his life depends on the speed at which he drinks it). “That’s so sweet.”

“I...wow, I don’t know what to say,” Heejin murmurs, looking at Hyunjin with sweet, tender love, the coffee and cup feeling warm in her hands, but her chest and her cheeks feeling even warmer. “Thank you, Hyunjin. That means a lot to me.”

“I know.”

“I...I, Kim Hyunjin, I love you.”

“You don’t have to say it single time we hang out with Donghyuck, babe,” Hyunjin winks at her before planting a soft kiss on her lips.

And that warms up Heejin’s heart more than any holiday cup or hot caffeinated beverage ever will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/your_penguinpal) | [Curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/hugsy_penguin)


	4. Feliz Navidad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the most ridiculous and contrived of these 5 stories, as you can easily think of rational ways to write a story about someone getting tamales. However, that's what makes it fun to read!

**Feliz Navidad**

_Church steps_

“Come on, we’re going to be late for mass,” Sooyoung insists as the three of them hurriedly walk up the stairs towards the church.

“I thought these things started at like, 5:30?” Jungeun says confusedly.

“No, but we have to get there before all the good seats are taken.” Sooyoung looks at her with a skeptical expression. “Is church different in Korea?”

“Uh...yes! As a matter of fact, yes, it is,” Jungeun says hastily.

Then she turns to Jinsoul. “There’s such a thing as good seats in church?” she whispers.

Jinsoul shrugs. “It’s kinda like a movie theatre?”

_Starbucks_

Jungeun is not the type of girl to be religious, considering she’s an atheist by choice.

However, she is deeply religious about Mexican food. Ever since Jungeun came here from Korea, it’s quickly become her favorite type of cuisine, and LA has it in an abundance of spades.

That’s how Jinsoul got her to church today.

“Hey, want to come with me to church?” Jinsoul asked her as they were studying in Starbucks.

“Uh, I’m not religious?” Jungeun pointed out.

“No, no, not for like, mass or anything.”

“Oh. Then for what?”

“For the _tamales_.”

Jungeun perked up at that. “Tamales?”

“Yeah, apparently the church that Sooyoung goes to has some amazing tamales that a couple old ladies sell outside after the mass ends,” Jinsoul nodded her head excitedly.

Her stomach grumbled, as it was running solely on fumes of coffee cake and a chai latte.

“That sounds amazing,” Jungeun replied longingly. “Can we go get them?”  
“Yeah, sure! We just have to go to church.”

Jungeun felt very confused. “Why do we have to go to church? Can’t we just go there and buy tamales from them?”

“No, we have to go to church,” Jinsoul insisted.

“I thought you were atheist.”

“I mean, agnostic, but yeah.”

“Wait, but if I don’t have to go to church for the mass, when do I have to go to church for tamales?” Jungeun asked confusedly.

“Oh, yeah, that. Yeah, I pretended to be Christian so I could get tamales afterwards when I went to church with Sooyoung,” Jin Soul explained. “She was like, _oh you’re Christian? Come with me to mass, we can get tamales afterwards!_ And I sorta blacked out when I heard the word tamales, so then that’s how I ended up with her at church.”

“How the hell did she say all of that and all you ended up caring about was the tamales?” Jungeun said unimpressed. “I can just go get tamales somewhere else–”

“No, Lippie, you don’t understand,” Jinsoul insisted seriously, “these are like...the _best_ tamales I have ever had.”

“The _best_ tamales you’ve ever had?” Jungeun repeated skeptically.

“Lippie, they were so good that I lied about being a Christian,” Jinsoul said. “If I’m going to hell for that, then at least I went to hell knowing I ate the best goddamn tamales in the world.”

“Wow, they’re so good you’d be willing to suffer eternal condemnation?” Jungeun said impressedly. “Now I have to try these.”

“Yeah, and that’s why I went to church with Sooyoung,” Jinsoul replied. “If that’s what it takes to eat the best damn tamales I’ve had, then sign me up.”

_Church pews_

If Jungeun knew anything about Christianity, maybe she would find this entire mass moving and powerful.

However, seeing as she knows squat about Jesus except that he died on a cross and then came back to life, the motions goes over her head as she’s too busy daydreaming about tamales. Part of her wonders if this is worth it, sitting in a huge building for an hour listening to someone talk to her about stuff she doesn’t get or just doesn’t care about. It reminds her of her huge biology lectures from freshman year, as the entire experience feels uncannily similar to when she would daydream about cute girls and Mexican food in class instead of paying attention to an old white dude telling her about Jesus (or mitochondrial DNA).

Now they’re at part of the mass where it’s silent, and it seems like people are praying for stuff? Well, even though she doesn’t believe in it, she supposed there’s no harm in just sending out good vibes.

 _I wonder what Eevee is praying for,_ she thinks as she looks at Sooyoung. _More hair? Bigger boobs? More success with guys? Girls?_

 _Well, I know I would be praying for more success with girls,_ she smirks internally.

_I guess I would be praying for good grades on my finals too, yeah? C’s get degrees._

She looks at Jinsoul, who is copying Sooyoung’s pious position, but she knows Jinsoul too well. She looks absolutely clueless, no thoughts, brain empty, probably also thinking about tamales and girls like she is.

 _I wonder if she’s thinking about me,_ Jungeun wonders wistfully.

Does Jungeun consider Jinsoul a total regulation hottie? Yes. Does Jungeun wonder what it would be like to date one of her best friends? Yes. Does Jungeun wish she knew if Jinsoul would ever, potentially, like her back that way? Oh going-there-for-the-tamales hell yes.

But seeing how stupid Mark has been in handling his crush on his best friend, Donghyuck, has made her a bit more cautious and hesitant to pursue the same thing with Jinsoul. Maybe that’s because Mark is just an oblivious idiot (seriously, it’s so obvious, she gossips about it with Yeri and Chaeyoung all the time), but still, his lack of success with Donghyuck makes her realize that sometimes, friends aren’t meant to be your lovers.

 _Ugh, why does Mark have to ruin everything,_ she grumbles to herself. _I swear, next time I see him, I’m just going to tell him to go to Donghyuck and confess to him. I need to know if that friends to lovers shit is real and not just some TV trope._

 _Wait – oh, speak of the devil,_ she thinks surprisedly to herself as she spots Mark in one of the pews. She thought she felt someone staring at her.

Mark’s there, looking at her confusedly and shockedly, which I guess makes sense – after all, whenever Mark would ask her if she wanted to go to church, she told him that she’d rather watch paint dry.

She looks to his left and sees one of his roommates, no wait, two–

_Wait, that’s Donghyuck! And isn’t that Heejin and Hyunjin’s friend, Jeno?_

_Apartment 726 (The Dream Den)  
_

“Hey Jeno, wanna go get some tacos?” Donghyuck asked him.

Jeno regarded Donghyuck skeptically as he looked up from his old problem sets. “Is this another one of your attempts to trick me into kissing you under the mistletoe for points?”

Donghyuck shoved Jeno on the couch, to which Jeno only grinned back widely. “No, you idiot! I’m seriously asking you if you want tacos. I’m in the lead, anyways,” he bragged. “Na Jaemin is losing at his own _stupid_ game.”

“If it’s so stupid, then why are you so invested in winning?” Jeno asked coyly.

“Anyways,” Donghyuck ignored that, “tacos? We can go to that place by Boiling Crab.”

“Sorry, can’t,” Jeno shrugged. “I already have plans with Mark.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, we’re getting tamales.”

“Ooooh, where? I wanna come too.”

“At church.”

Donghyuck looked at him confusedly. “Church?”

“Yeah, apparently they sell tamales outside his church. He brought them home once, they were really good.”

“Well, if he brought them home, why do you have to go with him to church?” Donghyuck said confusedly. “I thought you had like, three engineering finals to study for.”

“I do, but I also kinda wanna break from studying, you know?” Jeno said. “And fresh, hot tamales sounds like the way to go.”

“Well...that does definitely sound better than tacos,” Donghyuck said.

“Seriously Hyuck, they were really good. Wanna come with me to church with Mark?”

“Ugh, but I already told Mark I had plans,” Donghyuck whined. “If I say yes to going to church with him, then _I’m_ going to look like the Loser Lee.”

“Everyone knows you’re the Witty Lee, Pretty Lee,” Jeno Cheerful Lee smiled.

“Stroking my ego will get you nowhere with me,” Donghyuck retorted. “But thank you anyways for stating the obvious.”

“So, yeah? You wanna come? I mean, you’re Christian, right?”

“Well, yeah, but not _that_ Christian. I believe in God, not going to church like it’s my religion.”

Jeno looked at him puzzledly. “But it is your religion.”

“Eh, potatoes, po _tah_ toes.”

“What?”

“I’m just not as religious as Mark, is all I’m saying,” Donghyuck shrugged. “That’s all.”

“But for tamales, you’ll go to church?”

“Uh, aren’t you going to church for the tamales too?”

“Fair point,” Jeno nodded. “Oh! Remember to bring cash, they only take cash for tamales.”

“Happy early feliz Navidad to me,” Donghyuck grinned happily.

_Church bathroom corridor_

When Jungeun comes out from the bathroom, she sees Jeno in the corridor, on his phone, scrolling through what appears to be social media.

“Jeno?”

Jeno looks up from his phone to see Jungeun, one of Mark’s old apartment mates and one of Heejin and Hyunjin’s best friends. Admittedly, he doesn’t really know her that well, but she seems pretty nice (and pretty funny).

“Oh, hey!” he waves at her. “What are you doing here? I didn’t know you were religious.”

“Oh, well...I’m not, actually. I'm an atheist. You see, I actually–”

“Are here for tamales?” Jeno says knowingly.

She feels a wave of confusion, surprise, and delight pass over her. “Yeah, actually! How did you know about that? Are you here for the tamales too?”

“Oh yeah,” Jeno nods happily with a wide smile. “Those tamales are the bomb dot com. Mark brought some home when they were cold, but man, they were amazing.”

“No way,” Jungeun says surprisedly. “My friend who I’m here with, she said that they’re so good, she would go to hell and back for them.”

“Well, I don’t know much about hell, but I do know that those tamales get me feeling good as hell,” Jeno grins cheekily.

“Hey, you think the mass is over? I saw some people leave early after they got that wafer thing,” Jungeun says. “You wanna check outside and see if they’re starting to sell those tamales?”

“Yeah, hold on, I’m just waiting for Donghyuck to finish up in the bathroom,” Jeno says.

“Ah.”

As if on cue, Donghyuck comes out of the men’s bathroom. “Oh, hey Jungeun.”

“Hey, Hyuck,” Jungeun replies. “Were you gonna go get tamales?”

“Uh, _yah_ ,” Donghyuck utters as if it’s obvious.

“Can I join y’all?”

“Of course! Come on, we got that bread, now let’s go get us some tamales,” Donghyuck grins. 

Jungeun looks at him puzzledly. “There was bread?”

“Oh, you know that small cracker everyone ate? That’s called the bread, in church,” Donghyuck replies.

“You’re religious?” 

“ _Yah._ ”

“Well...that’s surprising,” Jungeun says unexpectedly. 

“Trust me, I’ve known him since high school, and sometimes I have to remind him that he’s a good Christian boy,” Jeno says humorously.

“Just because my mom raised me a good Christian boy doesn’t mean I hate raising hell,” Donghyuck winks.

_Tamale cart_

“Oh my god, these are so goooooood,” Jungeun moans as she took another mouthful of tamale. Currently, her, Jeno and Donghyuck are gorging themselves on the ten tamales they bought from the nice old Mexican ladies selling them outside the church. “Why don’t they have these back in Korea?”

“Right?” Jeno nods his head in agreement. “I swear, if they made these back in Korea, people would go nuts, they’re so good.”

“It’s the corn,” Donghyuck says pleasantly as he takes another bite. “I dunno what kinda corn they use to make this, but it tastes sooooo good, and the pork is so good, just, mmmph! Chef’s kiss.”

“Lippie? Hyuck? Jen?”

The ten tamales trio turns to look behind them and see Mark, Jinsoul, and Sooyoung amongst the crowd of people getting out of church, looking at them.

“Oh, hey y’all! Go get in line for the tamales, I know this seems like a lot, but _trust me_ ,” Jungeun emphasizes, “we are going to eat all ten.”

“Oh my god, you got them without me?!” Jinsoul pouts. 

Why did Jungeun find that cute?

“Sorry, couldn’t resist,” Jungeun grins bashfully between a mouthful. “You were right, these tamales are worth going to hell for.”

“Sorry, what?” Sooyoung says confusedly. “You’re going to hell for these tamales?”

“Heyyyy so let’s go get some tamales, yeah?” Jinsoul says as she tugs Sooyoung along with her to wait in the line for tamales.

“You’re not gonna go get any, Mark?” Jungeun says.

“No, I’m not,” Mark says suspiciously, crossing his arms. “Because I already ate. But I thought you were an _atheist_? What made you change your mind? Last time I asked you if you wanted to come to church with me, you said you’d rather watch paint dry.”

“Eh, that's nothing, last time Mark asked me if I wanted to go to church, I told him the only church I go to is to see Chvrches at a concert in Devil’s Hole.”

“Again, reminding you that you are Christian,” Jeno says. 

“What? It’s a real place. We learned that it has this endangered pupfish in there in one of my environmental economics classes.”

“Okay, that’s besides the point,” Mark sighs. “Just...did you guys just come to church for tamales?”

“Noooooo, is it that obvious?” Jungeun asks rhetorically.

Mark sighs again. “Your friend is going to be so disappointed in you when she finds out. You know she leads one of the youth groups here, right?”

“She’s not finding out,” Jungeun says bluntly.

“What do you mean–”

“Don’t mention me coming for free tamales, and I don’t share any video about Tuxedo Parker karaoke singing love stories into a wooden spoon with Chaebae or Donghyuck,” she smiles devilishly.

Mark’s face turns absolutely mortified and horrified.

“Okay, what is this _Tuxedo Parker_ that you and Yeri and the rest of your apartment seem to know about–”

“Okayyyy, I’m so happy you came to church to support your friend, Lippie! No secrets here,” Mark interrupts Donghyuck hastily.

_Apartment 989 (The Cheese Cottage)_

“I still can’t believe how good those tamales were,” Jinsoul says as they take another break from studying.

“Oh, and next time we won’t have to go to church for them,” Jungeun says craftily. 

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s just say I have a _Tuxedo Parker_ tamale delivery service for me now,” Jungeun grins slyly.

Jinsoul shrugs. “Whatever gets us those tamales.”

“Do you want some water?” Jungeun asks as she goes to pour herself a glass.

“I’m good, thanks. Do you have something else, though? I’m kinda hungry.”

“After the tamales? Really?” Jungeun asks.

“Eh, just like, a light snack.”

“Oh okay, yeah, sure, I can look through my section in the cupboard. What do you want?”

“A kiss,” Jinsoul says as she starts to stand up from her chair.

“Uh...you mean like a Hershey’s Kiss? Or–”

“No, just this,” Jinsoul says before she places a soft kiss on her right cheek.

Jungeun’s brain short circuits as suddenly her entire somatosensory processes go haywire.

“Uhhhhhhh, _what_?!” she says as she shirks back from Jinsoul.

“What? Was I not obvious enough?” Jinsoul asks, a goofy grin on her face.

“Obvious?! Obvious about, about _what_?!”

“That I like you?” Jinsoul says confusedly.

“Wha–what?! You...you like me? _Me_?” Jungeun points to herself in disbelief. “You, Jinsoul, blonde bombshell and major hottie, giant goddess supreme, like me?!”

“Are those all the little nicknames you have for me?” Jinsoul laughs.

“But...But I thought–”

“Sooyoung’s actually the one who told me,” Jinsoul grins. 

“ _SOOYOUNG?!”_

  
“Yeah, didn’t you know? She was third-wheeling, coming to church with me was just a setup to get you to hang out with me more.”

“But...but we were already studying–”

“I know, I know, we were studying, and all, but I wanted to do something I dunno...more festive with you? Than helping you review cell biology and protein chains, or whatever.”

“Wha...Sooyoung knew I liked you?!”

“Remember Halloween?”

“What? What does that– _ohhhhhh_ ,” Jungeun realizes now, the memories of coconuts and Yukhei’s flip flops rushing back into her brain like an unearthed dam breaking. “I...I told her, didn’t I.”

“Yeah, you did, and she told me, like, two weeks ago? And I dunno, I never considered myself someone who likes girls but...maybe you’re an exception,” Jinsoul says.

“Well...I am rather exceptional,” Jungeun says half-flusteredly, half-flirtatiously.

Jinsoul just laughs. “Tell you what. We finish studying, and next week after finals are over, we go get dinner at that nice Mexican restaurant downtown?”

“Is...is that a date?” Jungeun stammers out flusteredly, feeling her cheeks heat up hotly.

 _Oh god, is this what it feels like to be Mark?!_ She screams internally.

“It’s only a date if you want it to be,” Jinsoul says open-endedly.

“Well...maybe I do want it to be,” Jungeun replies shyly.

“Then it’s a date,” Jinsoul smiles back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/your_penguinpal) | [Curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/hugsy_penguin)


	5. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so I just want to preface this by saying that this was written before the news of Wendy's accident at the SBS Gayos came out. This was meant to be a different take on the rom-com love stories/feel I had in all these chapters, less emphasis on the comedy and more emphasis on the romance/love/sentimentality.
> 
> However, I know that as the SBS Gayos news recently came out, fans might be a lot more sensitive to the story written in this final chapter. I understand if it's a bit difficult to read, because it definitely has some real-world parallels. If you feel particularly strongly about Wendy's situation, I would highly suggest you wait to read this, or don't read this story at this time. 
> 
> Please remember to take care of yourself during the holidays, and remember that you are loved.

**Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas**

_Let your heart be light..._

In a neighborhood somewhere near where Seulgi had grown up in LA, the Christmas lights adorn almost every house at every corner.

Each December, the neighborhood put up wonderful and magical displays of Christmas lights and decorations, which were free for the public to see. Sometimes, it was really crowded, but thankfully during the middle of the week, there’s not as many people.

“Wow, these lights are always so pretty,” Seulgi says in awe as she walks down the neighborhood street with Taeil, Yeri, and Donghyuck.

Twinkling, glittering lights of all shades and brilliant colors wrap around rooftops and trees and bushes. Reindeer and snowmen and angels dazzle with white luminance. Ribbons and wreaths shift slightly as the gentle wind passes through the neighborhood. The breeze carries with it the scent of hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies some of the neighbors sell in front of their houses. Kids run around with their parents, couples take photos in front of houses, friends talk amongst each other, and everyone enjoys the display of lights up for the holiday season.

“It’s your first time here, right Donghyuck?” Taeil asks his cousin as they walk past a house with a giant snow globe of the North Pole in front of it. “Do you like it?”

“I actually do!” Donghyuck says happily. “I mean, I’m not that big on Christmas, but wow. This place looks so festive I might actually get why people believe in the magic of Christmas.”

“I told you it was amazing,” Yeri nods happily. “Are you gonna take Wendy here, Seulgi?”

“I really want to,” Seulgi replies warmly. “She’s from Canada but–”

“Oh, wait, I didn’t know that! Iis Wendy from Vancouver like Mark?” Donghyuck asks.

“No, she’s from Ontario,” Seulgi says. “But she and Mark are very similar, yeah?”  
“I guess, but Mark’s not studying to become a music therapist like she is.”

“Music therapy?” Yeri asks.

“Yeah, there’s been studies and evidence showing how music can help improve a patient’s quality of life,” Seulgi explains. “So right now she’s currently working on her PhD to research more specifically on how singing and teaching children to sing for themselves and others can help improve the early stages of psychological development at young ages.”

“Wow, that sounds...really, really cool, and really, really smart,” Yeri says with awe. “That’s...wow, I didn’t know she was doing all of that! You just said she did music.”

“Well, if you want, we can talk about it next time we get brunch,” Seulgi responds warmly. “I’m sure she’d love to talk to you about what she does.”

“Yeah, that would be awesome!” Donghyuck replies happily.

“Seulgi didn’t invite you,” Taeil says.

“No, but I _am_ invited, right Seulgi?” Donghyuck says insistently.

Seulgi laughs at Donghyuck’s brazenness. “Yes, you are more than welcome to get brunch with me and Wendy and Yeri.”

“Yes!”

“Wha–hey, don’t me and Wendy have any say in that?” Yeri protests.

“What, you don’t want to have brunch with your former roommate's soon-to-be former roommate?” Donghyuck says offendedly.

“Ugh, please, just hanging out with you today is enough of a dose of you,” Yeri says sarcastically.

“Well, how about instead of brunch, we all get dinner tomorrow? She has a performance tomorrow at a local theatre, she’ll be singing some Christmas carols for a charity show,” Seulgi smiles. “Would you guys like to come get dinner with us after?”

“I think I speak for all of us when I say we’d love to come,” Taeil replies warmly.

“Uh, hello? Don’t speak for me,” Donghyuck says annoyedly. “But yes, I would love to come!”

Seulgi’s cell phone rings, and she recognizes it as the hospital that Wendy works with for some of her field work.

“Hey, sorry, I gotta get this, you guys go on ahead without me!” 

She picks up the call. 

“Hello?”

“What?”

“Oh my god.”

_Next year all our troubles will be out of sight..._

“Wannie! Wannie! Oh my god, are you okay?!” Seulgi shouts hysterically as she rushes into the hospital room to see her girlfriend.

“Seulgi, I’m fine, I’m fine,” Wendy croaks out, before clearing her voice. “Don’t worry about my voice, I just...they gave me some medication and I think it dried out my throat, sorry, I’m not dying, just dehydrated.”

“Oh my god,” Seulgi says, hot tears running down her face. “Wannie…”

“Seulgi, don’t worry, I’m going to be fine,” Wendy murmurs cheerfully. “I”m just really...really tired, okay?”

“Wendy, you fell down a flight of stairs,” Seulgi starts to cry. “Are you okay? Did they check if you had concussions? Did they give you ibuprofen? Are you in any pain? Are they sure you don’t have any internal bleeding? Did–”

“Seulgi, please,” Wendy says soothingly, holding Seulgi’s hands tenderly, gently rubbing her palms. “I’m fine. Seriously, I’m still breathing, living, happy! Okay? That’s all that matters.”

“But it’s not fine,” Seulgi cries. “You...you have a broken leg, and broken ribs, and bruises all over your face.”

“What’s wrong with any of that?” Wendy asks her.

“I just...I wanted this Christmas season to be amazing for you,” Seulgi says, wiping the tears away, starting to calm down. “I wanted to take you to see the amazing Christmas lights at First Snow Road, and see you sing at the charity show, and just...I don’t want you to spend your Christmas in the hospital.”

“I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine,” Wendy says disheartenedly, which only kills Seulgi even more. “It’s okay, Seulgi! Really. I just...I just want to spend it with you, okay? Even if I don’t get to do all that stuff with you, at least I still have you, Seulgi.”

“But I...god, I feel so bad, Wannie, I feel so bad that you’re stuck here, and you have to spend your holiday like this,” Seulgi murmurs sadly.

“It’s okay. I’ll be out in like, two weeks. A week and a half, if I heal up well enough.”

“I know, I just...I wish I could give you the Christmas you deserve,” Seulgi says gently, sniffling a bit as she strokes Wendy’s hair behind her ear. “It’s your first Christmas away from home.”

“You are my home,” Wendy smiles softly as she holds Seulgi’s hand firmly in her own.

_Once again as in olden days, happy golden days of yore…_

“I just feel bad, you know?” she says to Taeil as she takes another unenthusiastic forkful of her pasta, never really lifting it past the plate. “I just feel so bad, Taeil. It’s her first Christmas away from her family, and she’s stuck here in a hospital.”

“Yeah, that must be really hard,” Taeil says glumly, looking at his spaghetti and meatballs forlornly. “I know I would be pretty bummed out if I had to spend this time of year in the hospital.”

“I just wish...I wish I could bring the holidays to her, you know?” Seulgi says longingly. “I just...I know we’ve been dating for two years now, but you know what she said to me yesterday?”

“What?”

“She said, ‘you are my home’. And I just...what kind of home am I giving her, if she’s spending the holidays in the hospital?”

“Hmmmm.” Taeil contemplates what Seulgi told him as takes another meatball with some spaghetti. “So, she called you her home?”

“Yeah.”

“So, then, doesn’t that mean that, no matter where she is, as long as you’re with her, she’ll always feel like she’s at home?”

“I...yeah, you’re right, I guess,” Seulgi says. 

“So, if you’re her home...then why don’t you take her home for the holidays?” Taeil smiles widely.

“What do you mean?”

_Faithful friends who are dear to us, will be near to us once more…_

There’s a knock on the door.

Wendy looks up from her book to see Seulgi, in an oversized wool winter coat with a scarf around her neck.

“Hey, honey, how was work?” Wendy asks enthusiastically.

“It was good, it was good,” Seulgi says evenly. “How did today go for you? Did the doctor see you today?”

“Yeah, he took some blood samples and talked about some physical therapists I can see once I’m discharged,” Wendy says. “I’ve also got some medication I have to take, to help with the bruises and concussion.”

“I’m sorry, sweetie,” Seulgi says sympathetically. “That sounds like such a pain.”

“Ah, well, that’s kind of what happens when you fall down a flight of stairs,” Wendy says humorously. “Stuff just happens, you know? But hey, I’m doing fine.”

“Well, as long as you’re fine,” Seulgi smiles, kissing Wendy’s cheek. “Hey, you wanna watch a movie or something?”

“Well, I have been reading this rather boring book, and I do have a ton of emails to respond to and some work to catch up on…” Wendy says thoughtfully. “But eh, that can wait. Let’s watch a movie.”

“Alrighty!” Seulgi smiles as she pulls her laptop out of her bag. “What did you wanna watch?”

“How about Love Actually?”

“Alright, let’s watch it,” she said sweetly as she kisses Wendy again. “Did you know I actually love you, Miss Seungwan Son?”

“It’s love, actually, Miss Seulgi Kang,” Wendy replies playfully.

Two hours later, after the movie has ended, Wendy has fallen asleep, a peaceful expression on her face as she breathes softly, in and out. Seulgi brushes her hair gently, planting a soft kiss on her cheek. 

“Have a good sleep, Wannie,” she whispers in her ear softly. “I’m going to take you home.”

Seulgi takes out her phone and calls Taeil.

“Hey, yeah, she’s asleep. She’s also on some pain relievers, so she won't wake as easily.”

“Yeah, bring them all on up!”

“Okay, bye.”

_Someday soon we all will be together, if the fates allow…_

“Wendy,” a soft voice whispers.

 _It sounds like Seulgi_ , Wendy thinks as she sprawls on the line between sleep and awakeness.

“Wendy, are you awake, sweetie?”

“Mmmmm, fifteen more minutes,” Wendy mumbles softly.

“But sweetie, I want you to see something,” Seulgi whispers.

“Mmmm, okay,” Wendy says reluctantly, yawning as she blinks her eyes open and–

–and it’s beautiful.

The lights in the hospital room have been turned off, and the window curtains are drawn, but it’s so, so beautiful.

Christmas lights are hung around the interior of the room, across the ceiling, an array of connecting reds and blues and yellows and greens, some dazzling purple. White lights glitter along the wall in a strewn out patchwork of wires. 

In the corner near the bathroom, there’s a small Christmas tree, about the same size as Seulgi. It’s filled with ornaments, including some that she had brought from Ontario – she recognizes the Christmas saxophone one she got when she was a kid. Red and white ornaments decorate it, with a string of pearls circling around, intertwining with the lights. Underneath the tree are lots of newspapers, but also red and green shoeboxes, wrapped up with ribbon and bows. 

Seulgi is not in her oversized wool winter coat, but in an ugly Christmas sweater, a blue and white one with a red Santa on it. Instead of her work khakis, she’s in striped flannel red Christmas pajamas and a pair of moccasins. She’s wearing a set of reindeer antlers on top of her head, and there’s a red plastic ball with a light inside it on her nose. Next to her are Taeil, and she recognizes Donghyuck, Mark, and Yeri, alongside with what must be their friends.

“Hey, Wendy! Surprise! It’s us!” Donghyuck exclaims happily.

“Did you miss us?” Mark asks excitedly.

“We hope you like what we did with the place,” Yeri smiles warmly.

“Oh my god, did you...did you guys, and your friends, and...you did all of this?” Wendy says, covering her mouth as tears welling up in her eyes. “While I was asleep?”

“Yeah, we did,” Taeil says happily. “Me and Seulgi came up with the idea while we had lunch today. Thankfully, Donghyuck and Yeri plus their friends were free. Plus, we also got you a cup of candy cane hot chocolate from that place you like downtown!”

He hands it to Seulgi, who hands it to her. It’s in a white cup. On the outside, there’s a white polar bear with a red scarf, depicted hugging a Christmas tree.

The cup feels so warm in her hands, and yet it doesn’t even begin to describe how warm she feels inside. She feels indebted and beyond grateful for the beautiful gesture that her girlfriend has done for her.

“You...you didn’t have to do all of this for me,” Wendy laughs through the tears, but they’re tears of joy, because she’s never felt so happy in her life. “You...you didn’t have to do all of this for me.”

“But of course I did,” Seulgi says lovingly, the warm glow in her eyes making Wendy feel like she’s falling in love with her all over again. “Because you’re my girlfriend, and I love you.”

Then, she presses a button on her phone, and suddenly the music starts playing from speakers near the tree, a Christmas-y melody next to the presents.

“And well, your job is to research how music can help people who are struggling, or are in pain, or are hurt. You love to help people feel better, feel special, feel loved through music and through the work you do,” Seulgi continues, eyes brimming with joy and love and something indescribable, something so irrevocably intimate and tender that Wendy swears this must be what love actually is, because she’s never felt so loved in her life. “So…”

“Wendy Son, let us be your Christmas carolers this evening, and give you music to help you heal through the pain and hurt, and to feel loved,” Taeil finishes before the melodic intro is done.

Then, everyone starts singing.

“Have yourself a merry little Christmas, let your heart be light…”

Wendy chokes out a sob, wiping her eyes as she laughs through the bittersweet emotion. It’s the song she was supposed to sing tonight, at the local theatre’s charity show. And she was sad, bitter, upset that she couldn’t sing it tonight, and perform. But seeing Seulgi sing the song, along with Taeil and their friends, just for her, means more to her than anything else in the world. It’s quite possibly the sweetest feeling she’s ever experienced in her life.

She counts herself as beyond lucky and blessed to have Seulgi in her life.

“...next year all our troubles will be out of sight…”

She smiles as she sees her Christmas carolers singing for her. There’s the biggest smile on her face, and even though her leg hurts, and her ribs ache whenever she laughs, Seulgi being here, singing with the rest of the carolers, is the most healing sensation, more powerful, more soothing than the morphine or the stitches or the medication she’s taking.

“...once again as in olden days, happy golden days of yore…”

She takes a sip of her candy cane hot chocolate. It reminds her of home, when her mom used to put peppermint sticks in her hot chocolate and it made it taste warm, cozy, nostalgic, like Christmas itself. She remembers when she first made it for Seulgi, when she was in her apartment, just the two of them. Twas the night before she was going to fly back to Ontario to see her family for Christmas, but after their dinner date at a cozy Japanese place, she’d invited Seulgi back to her apartment for some hot chocolate.

She remembers just snuggling next to Seulgi on the couch, wrapped up in blankets as they watched Miracle on 34th Street on her laptop. Sipping hot chocolate, and eating some chocolate chip cookies that they had bought from a bakery on their way home. It was then, for the first time, that Wendy felt Seulgi had truly made herself a home out of Wendy’s heart.

Because being with Seulgi makes her feel like she never really left home at all.

“...faithful friends who are dear to us, will be near to us once more…”

Even though hot chocolate isn’t the proper drink for energizing her voice, and she really should be careful, Wendy can’t help it, she starts to sing along with the Christmas carolers. Only softly, very breathily, quietly. But singing with Taeil and Seulgi, humming along softly as they harmonize with Donghyuck and Yeri, makes her so happy, makes her want to sing, even through all the pain. And it’s not something she does, because she’s been trained to preserve and take care of her voice, but just this once, she lets herself go.

“...someday soon we all will be together, if the fates allow…”

Seulgi starts to sing softly, walks over to her and leans over to kiss Wendy. It’s soft, and tender, her lips pliant, and she smells like the piney, wooden scent of Christmas trees and mistletoe. She strokes Wendy’s hair softly, fingers carding through each strand gently.

“...and have yourself a merry little Christmas now.”

Seulgi kisses her again, under the soft afterglow of ringing voices and reds and blues of Christmas lights and the smell of peppermint and pine.

“Merry Christmas, Seungwan,” she whispers softly, looking at her with unconditional love. “I love you, and I love having you home for the holidays.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/your_penguinpal) | [Curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/hugsy_penguin)


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